Wichita eagle., 1887-04-05
HB6SsNfLzNse
9ailY eagle
PIZARRO'S POCKET.


1eru Tor Elk mouths or more, and the
boys were all getting dishearteuod. Rival
companies Were striking it rich every
where, but few seemed to have steady run
OF bad luck. There were six OF Us, ell
Americans. John Conway was our lead
Ing spirit. He was old and gray, but tough,
wiry and alert. He had mined in Califor-
MIA and Mexico with fair success, and it was
all on account Of his dazzling dream of a
Peruvian bonanza that we were camping
out In the Acalpa mountains.
Nothing could depress or dauEt John
Conway. One Gay he said:
Boys, the shakes we've had lately mean
something more than an ornary airthquick.
Prob " thar'n be q volcaner tn bust up
things pow 'ful Lively, but if you kin stand
The racket, it'll be oil the better for Us.
It'H save SO much blasting, you know"
After thsi. we concealed our fears, if we
had any. We caught something Of our
leaders, recklessness. Besides, we had passed
through too many earthquakes since we
had been in that region to care much about
them
Accidentally, one day, made IN en-
couregiag discovery. l found an aban-
doned saver mine. 4 YVES evidently of great
depth and had been flooded, perhaps, for a
century or longer. The road leading to it
was choked UP with a heavy forest growth.
Conway was II O state OF feveiish ex-
element when [ took him to the place.
'Thar's millions Of it down thar he
said, rubbing his hands. ''Thar's been mil
Lions tuck OFT, but thar's millions thar yit."
/ ventured to suggest that the mine lad
been exhausted.
sob, don't mas-n that particl;ler hoIe,'
be replied; ~ mean tho stuff is here or
hereabouts"
Conway paused a moment, ;.n3, after
looking saarchingly at me, broke ont again.
$40 you know what I'm locking for:''
''Silver," / answered in q matter Of fact
way
SILVER, be bowed! It's wu3'n silver
I'm looking for Pi1Garro's pocliet!'
'|Whose pocket?'' L exclaimed
sole Pts. Never hear of Pizarro, the ole
rooster who used TO rummage around here2''
Ignoring my friends frivolous familiar
ity with the great conGueror, l asked for an
explanation
Just what Conway told me, viii rot bear
repetition here When the story was told
to me as | sat under q cinnamon tree, chew
ing coca leaves, and watching tho flmy
smoke that rose from the volcanic assures
on the mountain side, | was in the mood to
believe anything When man has a baby
volcano in front of him. a coppcry sky over
head and q wilderness Of spices and flowers
ell around him, nothing seems improbable
Hzarro's pocketl
OF course / knew that the brutal soldier
Of fortune Ead wrung fabulous millions out
of the unfortunate Incas and the helpless
Feruviars. ! knew, too, that after the as
sassination Of Pizarro at Lima. his follow
ers wondered at the disappearance OF the
bulk ot his treasures.
Now it was al explained II the Indian
traditions that Conway had gathered up
were true, al the wealth OF the famous cap
tain general was literally under orr feet.
The great robber had deposited all his silver
and gold and diamonds in q cavern among
these hills, and, after sealing up the en-
trance, he had barbarously murdered the
faithful artisans who had secrcred the pre-
cious deposit.
AS VIC reciined on the cinnamon bark,
and cheyoL the exhileretinG coca, we
agreed that we would stand By each other
until we found Pizarro's pocket and enptied
1t.
GOOD I.orjr' cried Conway, with
troubled look, Il clean forgot the princes. -
'Do you mean 10 say that yOu have a
copper oolored princess concealed about
heref'' ] asked.
"'Taint' nothing to make fun o., y said my
companion. shes a fine looking gal
Jest wait til you see her But the point is
this We've got to give the princess a
fourth Of tie plumber"
When we had talked it over, I saw tie
justice OF the compact made by Conway.
The princess had become convinced that we
- H.
later the Treasure VI 'uld be ours. She had
voluntarily proposed divisie1 OF the
spoils, offering ii return TO give up tile gold
en- secret which had been handed down ii
her roySl lire for more than three cent?
ries One CT her ancestors, powerful chief
tain and mighty warrior, was the ruler Of
that province in the days of PizaITo. The
Spaniard scattered his tribe and drove the
chieftain 10 a secure hiding place among
the hills, where from some point Of vantage
he watched TIE movements Of tie men en-
gagged IN b1iryiog the Treasure. The gallant
Hetslka dill not live TO profit by his discov-
cry. In his dying moments be contded his
secret to his son, and thus il descended
through generation after generation of the
Hataikes
And tn. Princess Es.alka Is tie last Of
the line, il she''' l inquired, when 1 had
heard the story
eyes" replied Conway, 'snd in her way
she is beauty. She lives only few miles
from here, and when we move oar camp
down thar in the valley she viii be likely 70
visit Us every day. You see, this flooded
mine that you have found aSout s"ttles the
business. It's the missing link. With what
we know and what the princess knows,
everything is ~ plain daylight"
Being still good deal in the dark, there
WAS nothing for me TO 90 BIT 10 agree with
my leodar, and we vent back t. our camp
in very satisfactory frame Of mind
Six Americans mad. pretty stroli
team, but when we moved orr camp end
made preparations for the great work Of
our livas We found /: necessary 10 increase
our forcc. We had to send men u Lima
for tools and blasting powder and supplies,
and altogether it took about a dozen In
dians These Peoplc were the best specimens
of their race / had ever seen. they were
not very dark. and they would have been
called handsome men anywhere. They
spoke Spanish we'll, and displayed high
order OF intelligence.
The Princess Ratalka visited us the sec
ond day after our arrival She rode a
small An,alusian pony, and her grace In the
saddle attracted my attention the moment
saw her
Twas d,mfounded to find that instead of
q savage ] saw before me very charming
girl Of 10 G. 20. She had a mobile brunette
face, with Grecian features, and the most
glorious eys in the world. Her costume
was an o,dfashioned riding habit OF rich
materials This was a matter Of slight i'm
l.